The internet has not only had a major impact on the manner in which the real estate business is conducted, but also it has required new elaborations of the principles set forth in the Realtor® Code of Ethics. At the November meetings of the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) the Board of Directors adopted three new Standards of Practice, all of which were brought about as a result of the internet.
The Realtor Code of Ethics consists of 17 articles. Because most of them are general in nature, they require elaboration, interpretation, and examples of application. This, of course, is common among codes of ethics. For the Torah there is the Talmud and Midrash. Untold volumes have been, and will continue to be, written about the simple teachings of the Sermon on the Mount. Even the Code of Hammurabi needed its explications. (No qualitative comparisons or similarities are implied.)
The Standards of Practice flesh out the 17 Articles of the Realtor Code of Ethics. There are more than 70 of them. In turn, there are over 140 Interpretations of the Code of Ethics -- essentially case studies that show how the Standards and Articles are applied in specific situations.
The recent action by the NAR Board of Directors was to adopt two Standards related to Article 12 and one related to Article 15. Article 12 is that which enjoins Realtors to be careful to present a true picture in their advertisements and representations to the public. Article 15 is one of those that relates to Realtor-to-Realtor behavior. It prohibits Realtors from knowingly or recklessly making false or misleading statements about their competitors.
The recently-adopted Standard of Practice 12-11 provides: Realtors intending to share or sell consumer information gathered via the Internet shall disclose that possibility in a reasonable and readily apparent manner.
This carries the spirit of Article 12 beyond just (just!) false advertising. Presenting a "true picture" here does not only apply to the content of what is said or written. The new Standard demands the whole truth - truth not only with regard to what is being said, but also with respect to what is going on. If a person has to "register" to obtain information on a web site, presenting a "true picture" requires that he or she be informed if their information is going to be sold or passed on to others.
The new Standard of Practice 12-10 prohibits Realtors® from engaging in a misleading presentation of information from another’s web site (e.g. making another person’s listing appear as if it were one’s own), and from deceptively using "metatags, keywords, or other devices/methods to direct, drive, or divert Internet traffic, or to otherwise mislead consumers."
Right now, for example, it would be relatively easy for me, sitting here in Southern California, to set up a website that might appear as if I were the "go-to" Realtor in Aspen, Colorado. Why would I do this? So that I might attract a consumer who I would ultimately refer (for a fee) to an actual Realtor in Aspen. Standard of Practice 12-11 will prohibit this.
The new Standard adopted relative to Article 15 makes it clear that Realtors® are not only responsible not to say anything false or misleading about a competitor, but also they are responsible not to pass such comments along. Why is this an internet problem? Because of the proliferation of blogs, whereby false information gets passed on and on and on.
It’s a new and different world we are living in. The old principles still apply; but sometimes we need to think through how to apply them to our new technologies.
